On The Food Trail

Burmese Khou Suey ( It can be spelled in different ways )- From my sister-in-law’s kitchen

A vegetarian version of the traditional Burmese dish. It is essentially a one-dish meal comprising of noodles in a soup of curried vegetables in coconut milk, served with a variety of contrasting accompaniments.

Each person can individually mix the rich array of accompaniments to create their own original taste sensation.

Wednesday – This was our relaxed day. We decided on some casual and easy going fare. So – sausage rolls on the go with home delivered pizza it was.

Thursday – My husband treated us to some home cooked east indian delicacies. He made Pork Sorpotel and Potato chops. These are also some of my kids favourite food from my husband’s part of the culinary world.

Friday – We ended our week with Thai – easily our all time and any time favourite cuisine.

We ate the usuals – Beef Massaman curry, Stir fry basil and chilly prawns, Chicken Tom Yum soup and sticky rice with spring rolls. This is one cuisine we can eat with our eyes closed. It’s comfort food for us.

That ended our week of culinary delights ! Today is the last day of the school holidays – my kids are excited to be back to school and I’m sad. I love having them around and I love doing things with them.

We manage to pack in quite bit and get our down time as well.

Over the last two weeks – we did apple picking from the orchards, museum visits, city trips, train rides, workshops, play dates, swimming almost every day, beach visit and our culinary delights journey.

All in all a well spent term break.

Salad – From Kieryn’s Kitchen

We spent a lovely Sunday afternoon with my daughter’s best mate from pre-school and her family.

They had made one of the most delicious salads I’ve eaten and so I had to try it in my own kitchen. I made a few minor changes to it and voila – a salad to die for 🙂 No actually – I ‘d rather live for it !

Ingredients

Asparagus

Pumpkin

Zucchini

Ricotta/Feta ( Kieryn used Feta, I used Ricotta)

Salad leaves- baby spinach, lettuce, rocket

Chorizo sausage – this was one extra ingredient I added

Dressing

Balsamic Vinegar

Dijon Mustard

To put it all together

Dice the pumpkin into small cubes, put them in a baking tray, add a little oil and put them in the oven till soft and slightly crisp on top.

Same with the Asparagus and zucchini. ( except dont dice the asparagus)

I also cooked the Chorizo- first pan fried till crisp and brown outside and then in the oven for 10 minutes.

Wash and dress the leaves with Balsamic Vinegar.

Layer the pumpkin, Asparagus, zucchini on the leaves.

Dice the Chorizo into small pieces and add to the salad.

Add Ricotta on top.

And smear a little Dijon Mustard at the end.

Done !

We had the salad with some steak – but you decide how you want to eat it 🙂

Bitter Gourd ( Melon )- From Vera’s kitchen.

I’ve had the most yummy version of bitter gourd. For those of you thinking this is not for me- think again! It’s simple, quick to put together and absolutely delicious.Not to mention all the health benefits of Bitter Gourd 🙂

All you will need

2-3 Bitter Gourds – peeled and cut into slices

Garlic – 3- 4 flakes

Soy Sauce

Vinegar

Seasame oil ( Optional )

What you need to do

Bring water to a boil in a pan and put the bitter gourd slices in.

Let the slices boil for about 10 minutes . You don’t want it to mulch completely – it needs to be crunchy. Drain the slices out of the water and keep aside.

For the Sauce

Chop the garlic very fine, add 2-3 teaspoons of soy sauce and one teaspoon of vinegar.Sesame oil is optional. The version I had did not have any in it.

Add the sauce to the Bitter Gourd slices and munch away ! As a side – this dish is a simple winner.

My little tip– If you want to remove some of the bitterness of the melon – once you’ve sliced it , rub salt on it and leave it for a couple of hours. Wash it thoroughly and then boil it.